Ross Takes Second, Buglino Breaks 400 IM as Spartans Conclude Day Two

ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. – Chelsea Ross and Lindsey Buglino tallied exceptional performances for the York College women's swimming team on the second day of the 2012 Capital Athletic Conference Swimming Championships. At the conclusion of day two, the Spartans currently stand in fourth place overall with 246.5 points. Mary Washington leads with 622.5 while St. Mary's (Md.) and Marymount (Va.) have posted 446 and 289 points, respectively.

Ross put together a pair of strong performances in the individual 200 freestyle. In the morning preliminaries, the Spartan junior swam a 1:58.26 to qualify in the second spot for the evening finals, less than one-half second out of the top spot. In those finals, Ross, who finished eighth in this event at the 2011 CAC Championships, captured second-place overall after swimming a quality race. Down the end, Ross registered a 1:57.86, just .49 behind first-place Robin Brazier of Mary Washington. The silver medal proves Ross' top individual finish of her career, as she nabbed third in the 100 freestyle last season. Additionally, that finish is the Spartans' top individual performance since Heather MacLennan's 200 backstroke victory in 2010.

Buglino, in just her freshman year, brought down York's 400 IM record twice on Saturday. Initially breaking the mark in the morning preliminaries, Buglino swam to a 5:53.41 to snap Laura McCray's 4:55.69 established back in 2006. Despite the grueling nature of the 400 IM, Buglino came back in the evening and broke the mark yet again bringing it down to 4:52.27. For her efforts, Buglino finished 11th overall and effectively cut ten seconds off her previous season-best time of 5:02.81 set back on November 19 of this season.

Even more impressively, both Ross and Buglino competed in two other events during the evening. Ross placed 10th in the 100 backstroke with a personal season-best 1:03.87 before anchoring the Green and White in the 800 freestyle relay. Buglino swam the breaststroke leg of the Spartans' opening 200 medley relay – the event right before the 400 IM – and later registered eighth-place points in the individual 100 breaststroke at 1:11.89, marking another personal season-best time.

Beginning the evening's festivities with the 200 medley relay, the Spartan group of Kathy Murphy, Buglino, Anna Schuster, and Courtney Dacheux secured fifth-place overall for the Green and White. Notably, their collective time of 1:56.80 proved a mere .31 off the school record of 1:56.49 set back in 2009.

Ross' anchored 800 freestyle relay team posted a fourth-place finish in the evening's final race on the women's side. Sammy Greenwald, Jenny Hinkle, and Michaela Guild joined Ross in the event to register an 8:14.92.

In the 200 freestyle, Guild tied for fifth in the event with a 2:00.11.

The Spartans return to action on Sunday for the final day of the 2012 CAC Championships. Morning preliminaries are slated for a 10:00 am start while the evening finals open up at 5:30 pm beginning with the senior recognition ceremony.